Seven o'clock in the yard, and the plan changes by nine
At seven the team gathers by the workshop. The farmer runs through the day: you roll Long Field, you finish feeding and then check the heifers on the top ground, you take the grain trailer to the store and then help with the sheep. By nine it has rained, the rolling is off, and the plan changes by phone call. By two, a delivery of feed has arrived and someone has to be pulled off another job to unload it.
In the evening, the family WhatsApp group fills with questions: did anyone check the water trough in the far field? Did the fencing get finished? Which field did the heifers go into? Nobody is quite sure, because the day's plan was never written down and the changes were in people's heads.
Why jobs get lost between the yard and the field
Farm work is planned in the morning and changed all day. The plan lives in the farmer's head, and the changes are passed by voice.
- Jobs depend on weather, breakdowns and livestock, so the plan changes several times a day.
- Routine jobs, such as checking stock, water and fences, are assumed to be done and rarely confirmed.
- The team is spread across fields and yards, often out of earshot and sometimes out of signal.
- Field names differ between people, so 'the top field' means different places.
- Family members, part-timers and relief staff join and leave through the day.
None of that is a failing. It is how farming works. But it means that by the evening, nobody has a reliable picture of what got done, and tomorrow's plan starts from memory.
The cost of a job that fell through the gap
Most missed jobs are small, but some are not. Stock not checked, a gate left open, a trough not filled, a job done in the wrong field because two people meant different places. Those are the ones that cause bad days.
There is also the time wasted in coordination. The farmer spends a large part of the day on the phone, the team waits for instructions, and two people turn up to do the same job while another goes undone. And the record of what was done, which feeds spray, fertiliser, livestock and scheme records, only exists if someone remembers to write it down.
A shared job list built for a farm day
What we build is a shared job list that everyone can see on their phone, set up around the farm's people, machines and fields.
- The farmer fills in tomorrow's jobs the night before, or first thing, from a phone. Each job has a person, a field chosen from the map, a machine if one is needed, and notes.
- Routine jobs, such as daily stock checks, water and feeding, repeat automatically and appear on the right person's list.
- Each person sees their jobs in order. They tap done, add a note or a photo, or mark a job as not possible with a reason.
- When the plan changes, the farmer moves jobs between people or days, and the change appears on their phones straight away, with a notification.
- Jobs that produce a record, such as a spray, a fertiliser application or a livestock move, open the right record screen when ticked done.
- In the evening, the farmer sees what was done, what was not, and what rolls over to tomorrow.
| Today's way | With the job list |
|---|---|
| Plan given verbally at seven | Plan on everyone's phone from the night before |
| Changes by phone call | Jobs moved, people notified |
| 'Did anyone check the heifers?' | Stock check ticked, with a note and time |
| 'The top field' | Field picked from the map |
| Records written up later | Record opened when the job is ticked |
It works offline and catches up when signal returns. For a small team it may be built on tools you already have, like Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace; for a bigger farm, a small app.
A wet Tuesday with the list in everyone's pocket
On Monday evening the farmer lists Tuesday's jobs. At nine on Tuesday it rains, and he moves the rolling to Thursday and gives the operator the workshop jobs instead, all from the pickup. The feed delivery arrives; the person nearest sees it on their list and unloads it. The daily stock check on the top ground is ticked at eleven with a note that one trough is slow to fill.
At six the farmer looks at the day: everything done except fencing, which rolls over. The WhatsApp group is quieter.
Is your farm day run by shouting?
- The day's work is given out verbally and changed by phone.
- You often ask in the evening whether a job got done.
- Routine checks are assumed rather than confirmed.
- Jobs are sometimes done twice, or in the wrong field.
- Records of field and livestock work depend on someone remembering later.